Wednesday, October 23, 2013

State of Black Writers Symposium at Essex County College on Thursday, October 24: Free & Open to the Public

On Thursday, October 24, Essex County College’s Africana Institutein partnership
with ECC’s Division of Humanities,and the Frances E.W. Harper Literary Society
at the Newark Public Library will host the Fifth Annual State of Black Writers Symposium.

The 2013 State of Black Writers symposium, "Activism in the 21st Century," will
examine “activism” as a continuing paradigm in the lives and writings of people
of African descent. Writers from all academic disciplines, as well as those
outside of academia, have been invited to participate in this day-long symposium as
we consider the state of activism in the African diaspora. Dr. Akil Kokayi Khalfani, Director of the Africana Institute, will open the conference, and the joint keynote address will be delivered by civil rights activists Claudette Colvinand Angeline Butler, respectively. Below are links to more information on these living legends of civil rights activism.

I will also being moderating a panel (at 11:30), titled "The Red Record to "The Root": Black Media Activism from Print Culture to Social Networking." Shelagh Patterson (professor at Montclair University), Cyrille Phipps (independent filmmaker and media professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Essex County College), and Imani Henry (activist, writer, performer) will be the panelists--each sharing their work and experiences as activists utilizing a variety of social media to disseminate information, communicate with the public, and to inspire others to action.

The entire schedule is listed in the image above--the panel discussions run from 9:30 am - 6:30 pm, and culminate in a special screening ofLong Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal, which begins at 6:45 pm.

The symposium is free and open to the public, and will convene in Smith Hall of the Main Campus (303 University Avenue) in the heart of
Newark's University Heights.